PERRY, Ga. — Perry has a new mayor, and some downtown business owners say they're excited for what Randall Walker has in store for the city.
Caroline Rowland works at Sugarplum Tree on Carroll Street. She said the quaint atmosphere of Perry drew her to town.
"This is somewhere we can raise a family for generation and generation to come," she said.
She said she is excited to see what Mayor-Elect Randall Walker has planned to keep Perry growing.
"I commend anyone who is willing to put forth so much effort into loving our city," said Rowland.
Michelle Rhoades owns Mossy Creek Natural right next door to Rowland.
"We are so thrilled to have Randall as our new mayor. It's gonna be awesome to see what he comes up with," said Rhoades.
She isn't new to town. Rhoades said she has been around for a lot of changes.
"When we first got to downtown Perry, a lot of the stores weren't open. It was the downturn of the economy, and just in those last 10 years, you can see what we have now," Rhoades said.
One of the things she says she is most excited to see is what she calls "restaurant row."
"Hopefully, the future is that we stay open later, because now, we’ll have a ton of people downtown because they’re coming to the restaurants, so that’s what I --you know, I think all of us would love to see that, and I think we’re on the right way. We’re on the right track for that," said Rhoades.
Walker says that could be happening sooner than you think.
He said downtown Perry could see multiple new restaurants in the next six months to a year.
Walker said he's excited to continue the work he has already been doing on city council for the last nine and a half years.
"There's a tremendous amount of momentum going on in Perry right now, and I sure don't want to mess that up," he said.
During his time in office, he said he wants to focus not only on downtown, but from one city limit sign all the way to the other.
Walker said they are in the middle of a lot of industrial growth as well, with Sandler and Interfor expanding.
He said a lot of the feedback he has heard from people so far is how happy they are with the parks.
According to Walker, the city is working on building an amphitheater in Heritage Park and expanding the popular Splash Pad.
He also said they are working on addressing the bottleneck problem on Highway 127 by expanding Perry Parkway all the way to King's Chapel Road.
"We know growth and change is coming and it's important we stay ahead of the curve," said Walker.
Randall Walker will be sworn in on September 23rd during a special called city council meeting at Perry City Hall. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m.
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